SUMMARY: Lasandra Russ, age 20, died December 15, 1971 from an abortion performed at Memorial Hospital of Hawthorn in Los Angeles, CA.
Twenty-year-old LaSandra V. Russ, from Berkley, California, went to Los Angeles to have an abortion on December 13, 1971. She was six weeks pregnant. At the time, abortions were legal in California as long as they were performed in a hospital.
The abortion was performed at Memorial Hospital of Hawthorne the next day, December 14.
LaSandra went into cardiac arrest almost immediately after the abortion. Attempts were made to revive her, but she was finally pronounced dead on December 15, 1971.
As you can see from the graph below, abortion deaths were falling dramatically before legalization. This steep fall had been in place for decades. To argue that legalization lowered abortion mortality simply isn't supported by the data.
Sources: California Death Certificate # 71-169438; Los Angeles County Medical ExaminerÂ’s Report # 71-13144
Twenty-year-old LaSandra V. Russ, from Berkley, California, went to Los Angeles to have an abortion on December 13, 1971. She was six weeks pregnant. At the time, abortions were legal in California as long as they were performed in a hospital.
The abortion was performed at Memorial Hospital of Hawthorne the next day, December 14.
LaSandra went into cardiac arrest almost immediately after the abortion. Attempts were made to revive her, but she was finally pronounced dead on December 15, 1971.
As you can see from the graph below, abortion deaths were falling dramatically before legalization. This steep fall had been in place for decades. To argue that legalization lowered abortion mortality simply isn't supported by the data.
Sources: California Death Certificate # 71-169438; Los Angeles County Medical ExaminerÂ’s Report # 71-13144